When Life Gives you Lemons
Craft a Card
Good day, fellow crafters. Today I am participating in an IG Card Hop whose theme is Wacky Holidays. For my card, as I am a big fan of them, I have decided that I am going to celebrate Lemon Month. Before I decided to participate I had never heard of it but, Lemon Month, which is celebrated in June every year, is a special period to honor and appreciate one of the most versatile citrus fruits. Did you know that there are hundreds of varieties of lemon in the world? In fact, in the U.S. alone, there are around 200 cultivars or distinct varieties of lemon. So, this Lemon Month of June, join your community in celebrating lemons and the plethora of benefits that come with them. I hope you enjoy my submission.
Hero Arts - Zesty Wishes (CM417)
To create the background for these cards, I first begin by getting my supplies in order. I chose to use a piece of premium white cardstock, Hero Arts Zesty Wishes stamp set, Spellbinders Lemon Zest die set, Simon Says Stamp You Shine stamp set, Simon Hurley Zesty stamp set, embossing ink, White embossing powder, a sheet of vellum, and Distress Oxide inks in the colors of Mustard Seed, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, and Cracked Pistachio.
On top of the white cardstock, I stamped the whole and round sliced lemon images from the various stamp sets in clear embossing ink, covered them in white embossing powder, and then heat-set the image. I next ink blended with the Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade until I got the hue I was looking to create and then wiped off the excess from the embossed images with a microfiber towel. I set this aside until it dried.
As I worked on the card's foreground, I utilized the Spellbinders Lemon Zest cutting die set. Taking white cardstock, I began by ink-blending each individual piece, carefully applying the colors. Once complete, I proceeded to cut, arrange, and adhere the pieces together, following the design image closely. However, I made a slight modification—instead of opting for two-toned coloring on the leaves as shown in the design, I decided to keep them in a single color.
Spellbinders Lemon Zest Cutting Dies
The next step in the process was to trim the background, the sheet of vellum, and the corresponding mat to its final size. The vellum was used to mute the background and give it an opaque look. Then the background, vellum, and mat were adhered to a White pre-cut A2 card base. The assembled foreground was then positioned and adhered to the vellum-covered background.
The last step for creating this card was to make the sentiment. I used a sentiment from the Zesty Wishes set and Nocturne ink to stamp on top of yellow cardstock. I followed that up by stamping the sentiment a second time with the embossing ink to give it a bit of shimmer. I then raised the sentiment from the surface of the foreground using foam pop dots. This technique added dimension and allowed the sentiment to stand out prominently.
Celebrating a wacky holiday can be incredibly fun because it allows us to break away from the ordinary and embrace the joy of the unexpected. These offbeat holidays often bring a sense of humor, lightheartedness, and playfulness into our lives. They offer a unique opportunity to let loose, unleash our creativity, and indulge in activities we might not typically engage in and encourage us to embrace our inner child and find delight in the little, quirky things that make life entertaining. They remind us to take a break from the seriousness of everyday routines and to simply have fun, creating lasting memories and laughter along the way. I hope that my card inspired you to be just a little bit wacky and creative.
